Monarch Butterfly

The Monarch butterfly is best known as the North American butterfly. It has been found in New Zealand and Austria. This butterfly is famous for its southward mass migration and northward return in summer from Canada to Mexico and Baja California, which spans the life of three to four generations. North American monarchs are the only butterflies that make such an enormous journey, up to 3,000 miles (4,828 kilometers). Monarch butterflies must start the journey each fall ahead of cold weather; otherwise the cold weather will kill them.

Monarch butterflies cannot fly in the raining. When it is raining they hold onto trees or bushes. If wet monarchs get knocked off these branches, they sometimes get stuck on the ground. If they are too wet, they cannot fly because their wings are too heavy. However, monarchs do not need to stay entirely dry. If they do get wet, they just remain still until the water evaporates off their body.

Experts and scientist do not know exactly how butterflies know where to go and when to migrate. Some scientists have shown that they use the sun, and also probably the earth's magnetic field to know which way is south during the fall migration. Monarch butterflies do not hibernate. When they migrate they keep their food in their abdomens. Monarch butterflies reproduce only one egg at a time. In a day they can reproduce over 200 eggs. Monarch butterflies are unique, it is sad that the monarch butterfly population is in danger because of the disappearing milkweed.

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

...The monarchbutterfly, as known as Danaus plexippus, is often called the milkweed butterfly because its larvae eat the milkweed plant. They are also sometimes called "royalty butterflies" because their family name comes from the daughter of Danaus, ruler of Argos. There are many other interesting facts about this butterfly including its anatomy and life cycle, where the butterfly lies on the food chain, the migration from Canada to Mexico, why the butterfly is being threatened, and lastly, what is being done to help the butterfly.
The anatomy of the monarch starts with it coloring. The monarchbutterfly is bright orange with a white spots in a black margin around the edges. The veins on the wings are also black. The caterpillar is ringed with yellow, black, and white on each segment and has a pair of black fleshy tubercles at each end (Emmel, 1999). Monarchs smell with their antennae while they taste with their feet (Wexler, 1994). While the male monarchs have scent scales on their wings and "hair pencils" on their abdomens which secrete a scent (Emmel, 1999). The male scent is used during mating. The copulation of a male and female monarch can last from thirty to sixty minutes which is about average for most butterflies (Emmel, 1999).
The life cycle...

...Natural butterfly habitats have been destroyed or affected by construction of housing and shopping developments, as well as by the use of pesticides and other chemicals. You can provide a suitable butterfly habitat that will help fortify the butterfly population, and as an added bonus, the habitat will bring you enjoyment in watching beautiful butterflies in your yard.
The butterfly habitat should be relatively sunny (5-6 hours per day) and out of the wind. Butterflies can get their required nutrients and minerals from a mud puddle in a sunny area. A successful butterfly habitat will contain the plants favored by both caterpillars and butterflies. This means that you should include plants like Queen Anne’s Lace, violets, marigolds, and maybe even milkweed for the caterpillars to eat, since they are able to chew their food. In particular, monarch caterpillars eat milkweed because it makes them an unpleasant-tasting meal to predators. For the butterflies, which are able to suck and are unable to chew, you should include nectar plants with different colors of flowers, such as zinnias, lilacs, and the butterfly bush.
Butterfly habitats should last all summer, meaning that you should select plants that bloom at different times so that something is always blooming. You might be able to take inspiration in your...

...Butterfly
Whenever I hear the word butterfly, the first word that will come to my mind is the word beautiful. Likewise,I think the best example for beautiful is butterfly. For me, they compromise each other just like how their sounds were alike. If I were to describe a butterfly physically, first thing I would notice aside from how beautiful it was is that it was also small and being small makes them cuter than ever. Another thing is thatthere are tons of different types. Butterfly comes in different colors, different shades, different shapes, different sizes, and different designs on their wings. There are pure black, pure yellow, and pure white in color. Some are dark while others are just light. Mostly, wings are color combination of black or dark ones and then another bright neon color.Butterflies are wonderful creatures. They can’t swim, but they sure are very good at flying. They can fly for long distances and they are also good at eating and giving birth.They used to be a creepy ant, but then they grew out of their “shell” and a beautiful butterfly came out.When I was young, I wondered how the designs or patterns on the butterfly’s wings were made and I don’t get to know how is that so. I was wondering also why butterfly is called a butterfly. Of all the words that can be connected to fly it would be butter. Funny how I wandered about this when I was...

...An amazing life cycle of monarchbutterflies shows the beauty and the perfection of nature. Some insects have a complete metamorphosis which is a changing in the insect body form through different stages. Monarchbutterfly undergoes a perfect complete metamorphosis process: egg, larva, pupa and adult (Bernstein, 1990). The process of metamorphosis is guided by genes. There are three hormones produced from the genes. First, Brain hormone which makes a gland in the thorax gives the second hormone (Molting hormone) which is completely depends on the third hormone (Juvenile hormone) which causes the molting of the larva when it presents in high amount. Each stage of the metamorphosis is specialized to do a particular activity so the metamorphosis process is very beneficial in that manner because it prevents a mixing between two functions that ask for huge energy such as in the caterpillar stage the mission is growing while in the butterfly stage responsible for the reproducting (Towle, 1991).
After mating, the male lepidopteran dies while the female has to survive until she lays her eggs. She chooses the place to put her eggs carefully by choosing a close spot to leaves so that the caterpillars can eat when they hatch .The mission of the caterpillar is eating. Starting with it shell which protected it as it developed .When the caterpillar grows, its ready to move to the next stage (pupa) by spinning a silk...

...﻿Butterfly Effect
By: Aeia
Being a child can be considered as the best stage of a person’s life. Why? Because, you can smile without worries, you can laugh without problems, and you can dream as like as fantasies that have no ending. However, how much would you like to stay being a child it’s still impossible. Like a caterpillar, they never stay being a caterpillar they get out on their cocoon and later spread their wings to become a beautiful butterfly. But along their metamorphosis, they need to face the struggle diligently and even allow their self to get hurt; doing such many sacrifices enable them to show their essence and beauty.
T’was the dawning of a glorious Sunday, when I was formed with my own little way, I started to stretch forth my wings. The wings I brought to everyone has an effect; this may made them happy, heart-rending, upset, suffer or abhorrence. This effect is the thing I called “Butterfly Effect”.
I tried out to make everyone happy instead of the negative attitude I’d think they might acquired. In the corral where I belong, I don’t feel the intense sadness but as the time goes on everything changes. While the infinity of a prolific metaphor is true, all true, the Butterfly effect and so many little things can change the world. How can I find an orchestra leader so I can do the tuning right for the better? How can I?
As I look unto the old times, growing with my parents; my life...

...Vanessa Butterflies
Vanessa butterflies inhabit numerous continents around the world, which may include Africa, Europe, Asia, and the Americas (Stefanescu et al., 2007). Vanessa is a genus of brush-footed butterflies of the family Nymphalidae (Stefanescu et al., 2007) They are described as Holarctic species, which refers to habitats throughout the northern continents of the world (Stefanescu, 2001). They are seen mostly in open meadows and fields near streams (Stefanescu, 2001). Their populations are not permanent because to survive they need to be in relatively sunlit places that provide the appropriate host plants for protection and reproduction (Vandenbosch, 2003). They also need the proper plants that provide nectar for their consumption (Vandenbosch, 2003). At all life stages, Vanessa butterflies are incapable of surviving in cold temperatures (Vandenbosch, 2003). Due to this fact, Vanessa butterflies migrate (Stefansecu, 2001). The butterflies migrate in the winter towards the more southern regions and then upon their arrival, begin an intensive breeding period (Stefanescu, 2001). Throughout the winter, the larvae develop (Stefanescu, 2001). In the early spring, the new generation of adult butterflies appear (Stefanescu, 2001). These new adult butterflies migrate back to the northern regions in search of more host plants or better available resources...

...Thank you for choosing Smarthinking's OWL; best wishes with revising your paper!
*Strengths of the essay:
Hi Heather! I am Patricia C., and I will be your e-structor for your essay about the metamorphosis of a butterfly. First of all, I want to commend you for using transitions to connect ideas. For example:
“It seems like the larva and cocoon are doing nothing to the naked eye. However, it is possibly the most complex and visibly noticeable change thus far.”
The transition “However” is a clear indicator that you are presenting a contrasting idea to the previous one about larva and cocoon seeming to do nothing. Using transitions like that will help readers understand the discussion better, as it facilitates the smooth flow of ideas. Keep it up! =)
Main Idea/Thesis:
Now, you need to create a thesis statement that will express the process you are discussing in the essay so that readers will be guided in following the discussion. In your current introduction, you did provide some key points about the metamorphosis process:
“My most memorable lesson was one found in a slideshow Mrs. Fowlkes showed, about the butterfly. Still, twenty years later I can clearly explain how a millimeter-sized egg becomes a larva, then a pupa, and finally a wondrous butterfly.”
You can use those key points and turn them into a thesis statement at the end of your introduction that will give readers an overview of your essay. In...

...Lifecycle of a Butterfly
Introduction
Lifecycle refers to the stages of growth and development of a living thing. All living things go through different stages of development throughout their lives. Change in actions and behaviors are deeply associated with the changes in the stages of life. Butterfly is such an insect, which has a complete lifecycle consisting of four separate stages. In this paper, we will discuss the lifecycle of a butterfly in order to get an understanding of all stages of growth and development of a butterfly.
Stages of Development
A butterfly’s growth and development process is known as metamorphosis. There are four stages of development in the life of a butterfly. Each stage is unique and represents a different life structure of a butterfly. The four stages of development that a butterfly goes through include Egg, Larva, Pupa, and Adult butterfly.
Egg is the very first stage of a butterfly’s life. A female butterfly lays 10 to 100 tiny eggs at a time on the leaves of the plants. Butterflies select the leaves for eggs based on the food choice of the caterpillars. A butterfly lays her eggs only on the leave, which caterpillars like to eat. Each type of butterfly has a different choice of leaves, which it uses to lay down the eggs. “The food source needed in a...